With So Much At Stake, No Allowance For Error

Many politicians learned a hard lesson during the 2010 mid term elections. The takeaway: that millions of Americans were serious about cutting waste and restoring some fiscal sanity to Washington, DC. Republicans made massive gains in the House and also moved closer to majority numbers in the Senate because they claimed to understand that demand.

But it wasn't just Democrats who felt the wrath of hurting taxpayers, as many established Republicans faced bruising primaries and some didn't make it through in losing to more fiscally conservative alternatives. The message that the status quo is no longer acceptable should be clear to current Members of Congress, both the brand new representatives and those fortunate to still have their seats.

But unfortunately its not the reality, and we cannot continue to just "hope" that politicians will get the message the polite way. Case in point, Republican Congressman Steven LaTourette from Ohio has made a number of decisions lately that are not only head-scratchers, but critical errors at a time when our country cannot afford them.

Just last week, important Project Labor Agreement (PLA) legislation was being voted on in the House. The legislation essentially was to overrule an Obama executive order which required more expensive union workers on government funded projects. Congressman LaTourette added an amendment to remove the critical language, saying the bill was "needlessly anti-union". His amendment passed thanks to overwhelming Democrat support.

With Big Labor having more than enough support from the Obama Administration, especially in the form of the National Labor Relations Board doing their every bidding, they don't need to be getting bailed out from Republican Congressmen. (In other words, with friends like these ...)

LaTourette has had a troubling history of being on the wrong side of many labor battles. He even went to the floor of the House during the lame duck session of last year to bash Fox news for daring to call him out on his support for the Casey Pension plan, which was set to bail underwater union pensions at the expense of the taxpayer. He has also publicly taken a stand with the SEIU, the radical arm of the labor sphere and the people who helped bring us ACORN amongst other things.

The real lesson here is that just because our side does well in one election, we still have a lot of work to do not only gaining more seats, but also cleaning house, literally, of officials who refuse to accept the current budget realities.Brett McMahon is a spokesman for the Free Enterprise Alliance's Halt The Assault campaign

Many politicians learned a hard lesson during the 2010 mid term elections. The takeaway: that millions of Americans were serious about cutting waste and restoring some fiscal sanity to Washington, DC. Republicans made massive gains in the House and also moved closer to majority numbers in the Senate because they claimed to understand that demand.

But it wasn't just Democrats who felt the wrath of hurting taxpayers, as many established Republicans faced bruising primaries and some didn't make it through in losing to more fiscally conservative alternatives. The message that the status quo is no longer acceptable should be clear to current Members of Congress, both the brand new representatives and those fortunate to still have their seats.

But unfortunately its not the reality, and we cannot continue to just "hope" that politicians will get the message the polite way. Case in point, Republican Congressman Steven LaTourette from Ohio has made a number of decisions lately that are not only head-scratchers, but critical errors at a time when our country cannot afford them.

Just last week, important Project Labor Agreement (PLA) legislation was being voted on in the House. The legislation essentially was to overrule an Obama executive order which required more expensive union workers on government funded projects. Congressman LaTourette added an amendment to remove the critical language, saying the bill was "needlessly anti-union". His amendment passed thanks to overwhelming Democrat support.

With Big Labor having more than enough support from the Obama Administration, especially in the form of the National Labor Relations Board doing their every bidding, they don't need to be getting bailed out from Republican Congressmen. (In other words, with friends like these ...)

LaTourette has had a troubling history of being on the wrong side of many labor battles. He even went to the floor of the House during the lame duck session of last year to bash Fox news for daring to call him out on his support for the Casey Pension plan, which was set to bail underwater union pensions at the expense of the taxpayer. He has also publicly taken a stand with the SEIU, the radical arm of the labor sphere and the people who helped bring us ACORN amongst other things.

The real lesson here is that just because our side does well in one election, we still have a lot of work to do not only gaining more seats, but also cleaning house, literally, of officials who refuse to accept the current budget realities.

Brett McMahon is a spokesman for the Free Enterprise Alliance's Halt The Assault campaign